BMW Z4 Vs. Toyota Supra: Only One Will Be The Ultimate Driving Machine

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According to BMW, that is.

We’ve seen the , but we have yet to see Toyota’s upcoming reborn Supra in a similar fashion. That will likely happen quite soon, but there’s still a question worth asking: will the two jointly developed sports cars share the same driving personality? The answer, not surprisingly, is "no," according to a conversation had with BMW Group Australia CEO March Werner.

Five years ago, BMW and Toyota announced a partnership to engineer and develop a joint sports car platform that would ultimately become the next Z4 and Supra, respectively. Why team up? Because the global market, generally speaking, for sports cars, particularly roadsters, is dwindling. This deal allows both automakers to save more than a billion dollars in associated costs. But this platform also has the ability to be tailored to each brand’s driving traits. The new Z4, Werner has assured, will still be "an ultimate driving machine." As for the new Supra? It will drive however Toyota decides it should, but it won’t be the Z4’s clone. .

Toyota’s FT-1 concept is our best preview so far, aside from spy shots, of what the Supra will look like, and compared to the Z4 concept, there are few similarities. Werner further stressed that the new Z4 and Supra will not have the relationship, for design and handling, as the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. "It (the Z4) will be absolutely a unique BMW product, as you would expect," Werner said.